Post It Notes: Hottest Headlines on 11/19

Are you suffering from a case of too-many-news-sources-and-not-enough time? Don’t worry, there’s a cure. JET rounds up the relevant headlines of the day in entertainment, breaking news and lifestyle trends.

George Zimmerman’s girlfriend said he tried to choke her about a week ago during an altercation that wasn’t initially reported to police, a prosecutor told a judge Tuesday during his first court appearance on domestic violence-related charges. The prosecutor said Zimmerman’s girlfriend, Samantha Scheibe, was in fear for her life because Zimmerman mentioned suicide and said he “had nothing to lose.” Zimmerman’s public defenders said after the hearing that he didn’t appear to be suicidal.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg planned to sign landmark legislation Tuesday banning the sale of tobacco products to anyone under the age of 21, making New York the first large city or state in the country to prohibit sales to young adults. City health officials hope that raising the legal purchase age from 18 to 21 will lead to a big decline in smoking rates in a critical age group. A majority of smokers get addicted to cigarettes before age 21, and then have trouble quitting, even if they want to do so.

President Barack Obama is announcing $100 million in grants to help better prepare high school students to compete in the global economy. The White House says the Youth CareerConnect program will help schools train students for in-demand industries, including science, technology, engineering and math.

Beverly Bond, founder and producer of Black Girls Rock, has recently signed a deal to extend the annual awards show another five years. The show, which recently aired earlier this month, received it’s highest ratings yet with 2.7 million viewers.

Although nothing has been confirmed yet, there has been some talk that Andre 3000 and Big Boi will reunite again as Outkast for the 2014 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Things are still up in the air as other sources report that the two will finally end their group effort in the coming year. Only time will tell at this point.

Thomas Howard, former NFL player, was pronounced dead in a car crash on Monday. Howard was allegedly driving his BMW down the freeway at 100-110 mph when he hit a big rig and flipped over onto another car facing the opposite direction. It has been confirmed that the 64-year-old driver of the second car, Zeng Long Liu, also died in the collision, according to the Associated Press.

Merrick McKoy took to Facebook to post pictures of him and his 19-month-old daughter, Mia McKoy-Phanthavongsa, before turning to kill her. With an active restraining order already in place against him, Mia’s mother called the police to inform them that McKoy was in her apartment with a handgun, but police didn’t respond in time. After shooting his daughter in the head, he then turned the gun on himself.

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